Armed Forces: Pay Review Body

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Defence (Des Browne) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	I am pleased to announce that I have extended the appointment of Dr Anne Wright CBE as a member of the Armed Forces Pay Review Body for a period of one year, commencing on 1 March 2008. The extension has been approved by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

Atomic Weapons Establishment Management Limited: Pensions

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Defence (Des Browne) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	The MoD's responsibility for maintaining the UK's nuclear warhead capability is fulfilled through Atomic Weapons Establishment Management Limited (AWE ML) as the prime contractor. The Atomic Weapons Establishment, which was previously a directly employed business within the MoD, was contractorised in 1993 and affected MoD staff transferred to AWE plc under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employees) Regulations.
	AWE plc operate a final salary pension scheme for its employees. This is a funded scheme administered under a trust and, as such, is exposed to the volatility of financial markets. The latest valuation in 2005 revealed a deficit of £73 million against total liabilities of some £589 million. Since then, AWE ML have been developing and consulting staff and trade unions on a range of proposed amendments which would address this deficit. AWE ML is determined to maintain the existing final salary scheme for both existing and new employees but this will require an increase in pension contributions. The alternative would be the closure of the scheme. The present annual value of the required additional contributions to the scheme is estimated to be some £9 million.
	During the Committee stage of the Atomic Weapons Establishment Bill in 1991 (Official Report, Commons, 14 February 1991, col. 223), the then Under-Secretary of State for Defence Procurement made an undertaking that any increase in employee contributions would be offset by a compensating adjustment to pay.
	This undertaking was made in a very different context to the one in which occupational pension schemes now operate. Pension schemes both in the public and private sectors have undergone major changes in response to improving health and healthcare, longevity and returns on investments. Even if AWE employees had remained as civil servants, they would not have been unaffected by these dynamics; new pension arrangements were introduced for the Civil Service last year and final salary schemes are now closed.
	While AWE ML will continue to fund the bulk of the pension costs through its employer contributions, AWE employees will also need to increase their contributions in today's circumstances. AWE ML will implement any changes to the pension scheme only following proper consultation with the trades unions and scheme members.

Disability: Independent Living Strategy

Lord McKenzie of Luton: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (James Purnell) has made the following Statement.
	Today I am publishing the independent living strategy. This is a cross-government strategy that will give disabled people more choice and control over the services they need.
	The independent living review was launched in July 2006 to find imaginative and practical ways of supporting independent living for disabled people. The Office for Disability issues have led the development of the strategy bringing together the views and experience of disabled people, organisations of disabled people, service-delivery organisations and central and local government officials. The strategy has been developed with and is jointly owned by the Department of Health, the Department for Transport, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Children, Schools and Families, the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.
	The strategy marks a unique and radical approach to government working. It has been developed in partnership with disabled people to ensure that it reflects their real life experiences of the barriers to independent living and has drawn on their expertise to identify how to address these barriers. An expert panel, chaired by Baroness Campbell, has advised on the strategy's development and disabled people—including younger disabled people who are reaching adulthood and older disabled people—have been involved in meetings and workshops during the development of the strategy.
	The strategy draws together recent Government commitments to remove barriers to independent living and to improve access to services, including better support for older people in their current homes, improved support for disabled young people and their families, and additional investment to transform support to older and disabled people. The strategy also makes a series of new commitments including:
	demonstrating how to move resources from professional assessment and care management to user-led support, advocacy and brokerage to ensure people get the right support to make decisions for themselves; a regional initiative to promote independent living for older disabled people with high support needs;a national strategy to enable people to remain in employment when they acquire an impairment or their condition worsens;an awareness campaign aimed at practitioners (in social work, the National Health Service and elsewhere) and disabled people themselves to ensure that health, social care and other services are delivered in ways which enable disabled people to have choice and control over how their needs are met;a new toolkit to assist the development of local independent living strategies for and with older disabled people; and good practice guidance to enable people to have choice and control over their continuing healthcare.
	The strategy is designed to make a real and measurable impact on the lives of disabled people and contains a commitment to monitor the impact of the strategy, year on year, in partnership with disabled people.
	The Government are committed to equality for all disabled people by 2025. Today's independent living strategy is a major step towards achieving this aim.

EU: Economic and Financial Affairs Council

Lord Davies of Oldham: My right honourable friend theChancellor of the Exchequer (Alistair Darling) has made the following Written Statement.
	The Economic and Financial Affairs Council was held in Brussels on 12 February 2008. The Financial Secretary to the Treasury attended for the UK. The items on the agenda were as follows:
	Implementation of the Stability and Growth Pact. Stability and Convergence Programmes: First series of Member States
	Ministers adopted council opinions on the stability programmes of Germany, Italy, Finland, Luxembourg, France and the Netherlands and on the convergence programmes of the UK, Hungary, Sweden, Romania and Slovakia. The UK supports a prudent interpretation of the stability and growth pact (SGP) which takes into account the economic cycle, sustainability and the important role of public investment.
	Preparation of the European Council (13 and 14 March)
	Contribution to the Spring European Council Conclusions: Key Issues Paper—Ministers adopted a key issues paper ahead of the spring European Council. This paper is comprised of five sections: an overview of the economic situation; structural reform for growth and jobs; public finances; financial markets and European monetary union. Annexed to the key issues paper is an opinion on the Community Lisbon programme (the proposed set of Community-level actions to support the Lisbon strategy for jobs and growth). The UK endorses the paper and looks forward to discussion of these issues at the spring Council. Efficiency of Economic Instruments for Energy and Climate Change—Ministers agreed a set of conclusions stressing the importance of the efficiency of economic instruments for energy and climate change, based on a report from the EPC working group on climate change. The UK strongly supports these conclusions and believes that it is crucial for finance Ministers to engage with this important agenda. Work on the economic dimension of energy and climate change and on the international financing aspects of global action will now continue at working group level with a view to providing an update to ECOFIN in the autumn of 2008.
	Better Regulation
	Ministers exchanged views on better regulation in view of the recent publication of the European Commission's second "strategic review". Ministers agreed that this was an important agenda that all council formations should engage with. The UK supports the positive efforts of the Commission and welcomes the progress made both at member states and EU level towards reducing administrative burdens in the EU.
	General Budget of the European Union—Discharge procedure in respect of the implementation of the Budget for 2006
	Ministers adopted a recommendation for discharge of the 2006 EU Budget, on which the European Court of Auditors presented its report to ECOFIN in November 2007. The UK particularly supported the emphasis put on the need for all actors involved in the implementation of EU expenditure to continue to improve the functioning of supervisory and control systemsin order to make further progress towards achieving a positive statement of assurance in all areas of the EC budget.

EU: Economic and Financial Affairs Council

Lord Davies of Oldham: My right honourable friend theChancellor of the Exchequer (Alistair Darling) has made the following Written Statement.
	The Economic and Financial Affairs Council will be held in Brussels on 4 March 2008. The items on the agenda are as follows:
	Implementation of the Stability and Growth Pact. Stability and Convergence Programmes: First series of Member States
	Ministers will be invited to adopt council opinions on the stability programmes of Austria, Spain, Ireland, Portugal, Greece, Malta, Cyprus, Slovenia, and on the convergence programmes of the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Denmark and Lithuania. The UK supports a prudent interpretation of the stability and growth pact (SGP) which takes into account the economic cycle, sustainability and the important role of public investment.
	Preparation of the European Council (13 and 14 March)
	Broad Economic Policy Guidelines 2008-10/11 and Country-Specific Integrated Recommendations—This discussion follows the orientation debate on these documents at the January ECOFIN and further drafting amendments in the Economic Policy Committee and Economic and Financial Committee. Following Ministers' discussions, ECOFIN will send a report to the spring 2008 European Council with its reformulated draft texts for endorsement by heads, as part of the launch of the next three-year cycle of the Lisbon strategy.Financial Stability—Ministers will prepare the spring European Council's discussion on issues related to financial stability. Ministers will discuss the causes and possible policy responses to recent financial turbulence, and will prepare contribution for heads of state and Government on the matter.Sovereign Wealth Funds—Ministers will prepare the spring European Council's discussion on sovereign wealth funds. This follows the publication of a communication by the European Commission, which discusses the framework for investments made by sovereign wealth funds.
	General Budget of the European Union—Council priorities for the 2009 budget
	Ministers will be invited to adopt conclusions agreeing the council's budget guidelines for the 2009 EC budget. These guidelines are a set of broad principles which are designed to inform the subsequent and more detailed discussions on the level of appropriations required for the different areas of the budget. The subsequent negotiations throughout 2008 will determine the amounts to be spent under each budget heading.
	Taxation
	Fight against tax fraud—Following discussion of the issue at ECOFIN in December 2007, Ministers will be asked to agree conclusions on work to improve arrangements to combat tax fraud, which have been prepared on the basis of a report by the Commission. The UK is strongly supportive of work that will help in the fight against missing trader intra-community and other VAT fraud, while remaining committed to minimising the burdens on legitimate businesses. Taxation of savings—Ministers will hear an update from the European Commission on progress made in extending the framework of the EU savings directive to third countries. The savings directive enshrines the principle of exchange of information on taxation of savings and extends beyond the EU through agreements with third countries and territories.

Housing: Affordable Homes

Baroness Andrews: My right honourable friend the Minister for Housing and Planning (Caroline Flint) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	I am publishing today a summary of responses to the Government's housing Green Paper, Homes for the Future: More Affordable, More Sustainable. The document is being published on my department's website as per the Government's commitment in the Green Paper and is at www.communities.gov.uk/publications/housing/responsegreenpaper.
	Copies are also being placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

NHS: Foundation Trusts

Lord Darzi of Denham: My honourable friend the Minister of State, Department of Health (Ben Bradshaw)has made the following Written Ministerial Statement
	The chairman of Monitor (the statutory name of which is the Independent Regulator of NHS Foundation Trusts) announced last week that, in accordance with Section 35 of the National Health Service Act 2006, Monitor has decided to authorise Camden and Islington Mental Health and Social Care Trust as an NHS foundation trust from 1 March 2008.
	Monitor's announcement brings the total number of NHS foundation trusts to 89. A copy of Monitor's press notice has been placed in the Library.
	The Government remain committed to offering all NHS acute and mental health trusts the opportunity to apply for foundation status as soon as practicable. Monitor is now authorising trusts on a monthly basis, and further waves of NHS foundation trusts are set to follow.

Roads: M11

Lord Bassam of Brighton: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Transport (Ruth Kelly) has made the following Ministerial Statement.
	I am today announcing plans for my department to take forward work to consider the long-term capacity of the M11 motorway and the West Anglia Main Line. This is in recognition of the proposed growth in the draft east of England plan and the need to support this with effective and sustainable transport links. This work would also need to take account of potential expansion of Stansted airport.
	Last year my predecessor announced publication of the Highways Agency's consultation on plans to widen the M11 between junctions 6 and junction 8, and to improve the junction access from the M11 and the A120 to Stansted airport.
	I consider that the form of capacity improvements to the M11 in the period before 2030 requires further assessment and as a result I have asked the Highways Agency to carry out further work to look into this. This work will take account of the forecast growth in the region and ensure that, in seeking to exploit the region's economic opportunities, we do so in a socially and environmentally sustainable way, considering a range of ways to provide the additional capacity that is needed.
	If this work determines that widening the M11 is needed, it has been agreed that BAA would contribute to the overall costs, subject to the necessary referral to the economic regulator. My department will announce shortly the results of the consultation on the schemes required to provide access from the M11 and A120 to an expanded Stansted airport, which BAA has agreed to fund in full.
	I also recognise that growth in the region and the associated number of new houses will place additional pressures on the West Anglia Main Line between Liverpool Street station and Cambridge.
	Therefore, to complement the Highways Agency's further work on the M11, I am also asking Network Rail to develop and bring forward proposals for enhancing the West Anglia Main Line. This work should examine the case for further enhancements, to provide for longer-term capacity and service improvements, in the context of Network Rail's recent Greater Anglia route utilisation strategy.
	Following recent feasibility work led by my department, I confirm that this assessment should incorporate consideration of line and route improvements including a potential four-tracking option from Tottenham Hale to south of Cheshunt, and an assessment of what commitments would be needed to deliver this solution.
	The anticipated timescales for this assessment are for necessary development work and powers to be completed within railway control period 4 (2009-14), with a view to targeting delivery in control period 5 (2014-19).
	This would be in addition to the more immediate capacity enhancements I announced in my White Paper Delivering a Sustainable Railway, and high-level output specification, which were published last year.
	As with the M11, this work will draw on forecast demand from wider regional growth, as well as from the potential increase in the number of passengers resulting from any expansion of Stansted airport.
	Both the work on the M11 and the West Anglia Main Line will be led by my department, engaging industry, developers and other key stakeholders as necessary.
	I aim to report progress on both of these projects later this year.

Shipping: Light Dues

Lord Bassam of Brighton: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Jim Fitzpatrick) has made the following Ministerial Statement.
	I am pleased to announce that light dues rates and the tonnage threshold will remain the same for 2008-09. As a result of continuing efficiency gains made by the general lighthouse authorities we were able to cut dues by 10 per cent in 2006, which we held down at that level in 2007 and now will hold again in 2008. We shall continue to work closely with the general lighthouse authorities to streamline and improve services further to reduce costs where we can, while maintaining prudent funding to meet their liabilities and high standards of safety.
	I also welcome the publication of the Irish lights evidence study today. The study sets out evidence on the funding of the provision of aids to navigation in the Republic of Ireland. It will provide the basis for negotiations between the UK and Irish Governments to find a long-term funding solution for the Commissioners of Irish Lights. I am placing copies of the study in the Libraries of both Houses.